TAKSHAKA
20 Minutes into The Future

And yet again Jonathan Sharp takes on another side-project, this time with Josh Finney and additional voice-overs by Kyronfive. This six track ep is packaged in a beautiful 5.25 inch floppy disc case with sleeve and info/art booklet containing two remixes, one by labelmate Railgun and the other by Jason Perez of Evanscene.
-   Mastered at the Igloo by Gridlock, this new artist shows strong promise for newcomer label Gun Music. Sharp's New Mind composition and programming is very apparent on most of the tracks, but another edge surrounds the music as well. Together Sharp & Finney assimilate intelligent abrasive percussion elements, somewhat reminiscent of Gridlock's work (but not with the same density), dark bio-organic samples and ominous patches of dark string arrangements. Samples are still in conjunction with Sharp's programming, but provide emphasis were needed, not as overused as most bands have in the past. Strongest tracks lie in favor with 'Inphogeist', "Digital Chaos Junkie v.2" and Railgun's mix of 'Zerolight.' One to consider looking into.   (Nezzwerk Seven)

Takshaka is a another new project of Jonathan Sharp (New Mind, Bio-Tek, ex-Cybertec, Hexedene...), one of the most active musician of the electro. New side-projects means new musical direction, and, for Takshaka, J. Sharp and its accomplice Josh Finney have chosen to take their keyboards in the realm of a complex, dreamy and very modern sounding electronic music. Takshaka's sound on this first MCD is hard to describe. All the songs are supported by very slow synthetic tunes, on top of which several lines of drummings are mixed with samples, and bleeps. At the arrival, these "20 minutes into the future" are quite energetic, even though the melody is never forgotten. In a certain way, this reminds of the slow tracks of the "DeepNet" New Mind CD. J. Sellekaers of
Xingu Hill is thanked in the booklet, and a comparison with a lusher version of Xingu Hill, could be done. The influence of Gridlock, who mastered the CD, is also present on the way the drums are recorded.
-   Very rich without being chaotic, and quite futuristic, Takshaka seems to be focused on cyberpunks themes. Both the artwork, very well executed, and the voice samples, deals with the evolution of information technologies and
their relationship to mankind. All in all, Takshaka could easily be what the soundtrack for Bladerunner would be if it was written nowadays.
-   This CD (or CDR, since this is released on actual CDR) is clearly the best material J. Sharp has done so far. It is an excellent bridge between New Mind and the newest, more technoid, sounds of electronic music. Then, it's also a very good first release for Gun Music. So, let wish good luck to Takshaka, and enjoy these 6 tracks (which actually last longer than 20 minutes)  (Totentanz)

This time around, Jonathan Sharp has decided to indulge in electronically harsh noise and rhythms with partner and label co-founder and graphic artist Josh Finney. Incorporating high levels of grating electronic edge, deep bass fluctuations and crunching beats, Takshaka bear a great resemblance to Gridlock. While the latter achieve a greater level of darkness, Sharp and Finney are rawer, there are more wires exposed. They also attempt to cover more ground, changing faces sometimes. While tracks like 'Inphogeist' and 'MacArthur B.A.R.T.' invoke the darkly hollow beats of Gridlock, 'Tri-Face' seems to meld technoid power-noise with electronica, with overly successful results, rendering a track well-suited to Gun Music’s agenda. 'Digital Chaos Junkie' assembles noise, dub, electronica and soundscape music into an intriguing whole, and labelmate Railgun provide (Nathan Moody) a mix of 'Zerolight', the highlight of the EP. The most cohesive and steadily moving track, and point to the seamless meshwork of sounds and images that Railgun will offer when his Delta V arrives in February. The closer, 'Thoughts Rebroadcast' moves in noticeably darker waters, with the denser, distorted beats returning with very cold atmospherics.
-  The packaging is also remarkable, coming in a 5 ¼" floppy disk sleeve with sci-fi artwork by Finney, it serves to further punctuate the statement Gun Music is putting out; a collective inter-action of visual and aural art.   (Phophor, Electroage - 2000)